


Heart & Home

by NamelesslyNightlock



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Choices, Difficult Decisions, Established Relationship, Evil Odin (Marvel), Families of Choice, Feels, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Frostiron Bingo Round 1, Happy Ending, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Secret Relationship, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 21:57:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21043427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: Tony and Loki made a difficult choice, believing that in order to save the world, they will have to be cut off from each other forever.But their decision isn’t set in stone. At least, notyet.





	Heart & Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rabentochter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/gifts).

> One of the many reasons why I love **Rabentochter** is I can be feeling totally out of it and then she just throws a prompt at me which is not only perfect for making me feel better, but also fills a bingo square ❤︎  
  
For my Frostiron Bingo:  
  
**Square I1**— [Image prompt.](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEnkZYe68xI/VhUurwoIQ4I/AAAAAAAAZmg/VzFACZwyfHs/s1600/04.JPG)

Tony felt like he had been worked to the bone. He hadn’t slept in about… well, he didn’t know, and he started to get dizzy if he stood up too fast or turned his head in the wrong direction. He knew that he’d eaten – or, well, he’d consumed rather copious amounts of coffee, at least – but he was perfectly aware that he was running on fumes.

But he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t _rest_.

He needed to finish the job, even though doing so was going to break his heart forever.

He and as many scientists that SHIELD could _get_ had all been working with the Tesseract for days, scrambling to work out how they could use its power to destroy the Asgardians’ Bifröst bridge. When Tony had first learned of Odin’s plan, he had immediately begun searching for a way to counteract it– and he was lucky that SHIELD had only just witnessed the power of the Destroyer, because they did not try to argue when he stressed the Aesir’s power and perchance for destruction. That was good, since he wouldn’t be able to get them further proof, because…

Well. Tony didn’t want to let himself think about where he’d got the information from. If he did, he would probably break. And he couldn’t afford that. Not now, not when the life of every being on the planet was on the line.

The stakes were high, higher than they’d ever been before. So, they worked– they used the most powerful object in their arsenal, an item they _knew _could create links to other worlds. But they didn’t entirely understand it, and from what Tony understood– they had mere _days_ to work out a way to stop the Asgardians from simply beaming down and fucking up their entire planet.

_Odin wishes to begin as soon as possible, and Tyr has scheduled his first attack for when day and night on Midgard are of equal length_.

Well, the fucking fall equinox was _tomorrow_, which meant that they had hours, now– and they weren’t even _close_.

They’d worked out how to make a portal. They could even hold it open. But that was exactly the _opposite_ of what they wanted, and trying to use the Tesseract to _prevent_ something from being beamed down was beyond the laws of physics. They were inventing new science as they went, and while that was totally awesome, it also unfortunately took up a hell of a lot of time—

And that was time that they _did not have_.

If– _when_ Asgard attacked, Odin would ride into battle with his two sons at his side, and Tony… well. He was Iron Man, and he would have to fight. But he didn’t think that he _could_.

He couldn’t… he _wouldn’t_ be able to fight Loki. And he was fairly sure that Loki wouldn’t be able to fight him—

And they would both be left in a horrifically difficult situation without a solution—

Unless Tony could stop it _now_. Unless he could work out how to use the Tesseract to close off the Bifröst.

So he needed to _keep working_.

Erik Selvig was wearing an analogue watch. The sound of it was loud in Tony’s ears, the tick tick ticking intensifying with every passing second, reminding him of just how close he was to his failure—

He tried to block it out, he tried to _focus_. He drank coffee, he did tests, he ran scans, had JARVIS analyse every fucking inch of that stupid blue cube as he tried to find a way to cut himself off from the love of his life for the _rest_ of his life—

_Fuck._

If he did this, he’d never see Loki again. But he had a duty to this world, to this blue planet he called his home and to every bloody person who lived on it. He couldn’t let the Aesir tear the Earth apart.

So he had to stop the Bifröst. And he had to make it so that he could never see Loki again.

_Tick, tick, tick._

The clock was running out—

“Stark, look here!”

Tony shook the mess from his mind as he turned to look at the screen Selvig was gesturing at– the one that was flashing with warnings—

“Is that—”

“Yes,” Selvig cut in– one of the few in the room who would dare to interrupt Tony. “There’s something coming through.”

The alarms all began to blare as SHIELD agents stormed inside, guns held at the ready—

Then the Tesseract seemed to _explode_ with energy, blue power shooting out of it as a hole was torn in the very fabric of the world. Tony ducked for cover even as he jammed his hand against the homing bracelets on his wrists, calling for his suit—

And then everything came to a stop just as suddenly as it had begun, the blue light dissipating to the edges of the room and the portal _slamming_ closed, until all that was left was a dark figure kneeling opposite the once more seemingly docile Tesseract.

“Who the hell are you?” Selvig asked as he stood back up from where he’d ducked below a desk, his voice sharp and fearful—

“Me?” Black hair shifted as shoulders shrugged, and lips turned up in a smirk that had Tony’s heart giving pause. “I’m the God of Stories. I’m Loki.”

“Loki,” Selvig echoed, his voice low. “Brother of Thor?” Then he didn’t even wait for a response before turning to the armed agents and announcing– “He’s an _Asgardian—”_

“And he’s on our side,” Tony snapped. He still wasn’t wearing his armour – he’d have to work on that reaction time, once all of this was over – but he quickly moved to stand between Loki and the agents who had guns aimed at him. “He’s the one who told me about the invasion in the first place.”

The suddenness of his movement made him feel dizzy, but he did his best not to sway– and he stared them all down with a fierceness that was not difficult to muster, given the situation.

But before the guns had even lowered—

“Anthony,” Loki said, the name laced with a groan of relief. Then he was stepping down from the platform he had appeared on and began to make his way across the room, his strides long and his steps hurried—

And Tony met him in the middle, almost tripping over his feet as he fell into Loki’s arms. Being in Loki’s embrace almost didn’t feel real, and there was a moment where he wondered whether he had actually passed out, if this was just a dream. But Loki’s hold was tight around his waist, and– the pain in Loki’s eyes was too real to be something that Tony’s imagination had come up with.

But that shouldn’t have been—

Loki really _shouldn’t be—_

“What the fuck are you _doing_ here?” Tony asked, his hands curling around the lapels of Loki’s coat– a coat that was soft and green, with fur around the collar and only minimal metal plating. It was far from the heavy leather and gold armour he would normally wear if he was expecting a fight. He wasn’t wearing his battle helm either– the golden horns on his brow formed more of a circlet, a mark of his status rather than protection.

That, at least, was a good sign.

“I am pleased to see you as well, Anthony,” Loki replied with a touch of amusement, his voice fond– but his expression remained serious. Which, Tony was glad for, because. Well, the situation was _more_ than serious, and every beat of his heart was tinged with sickening mixture of relief and regret.

“You’re meant to be in Asgard,” Tony said, the words sticking in his throat because– he didn’t_ want_ Loki to go, but even just that thought was a guilty one. “If we shut down the Bifröst—”

“And how close are you to achieving that?” Loki asked. Tony averted his gaze, and Loki shifted his own to the rest of the scientists and agents. “I am here to help,” he told them. “I will show you how to use the Tesseract.”

Tony noticed that hardly anyone seemed convinced, but. They were desperate enough to try _anything_, and having someone who seemed to know what they were doing – no matter where they came from – was enough to give them a spark of hope that they so sorely needed.

The guns never entirely altered their aim, but Loki hardly seemed to notice. His hand lingered on the small of Tony’s back as Tony led the way over to the monitors, as if Loki did not want to lose contact entirely– and they stayed close together as they worked side by side.

But… Tony just, he couldn’t let it go. Because while everyone else saw only someone who could be either a threat or their saviour, Tony saw a different issue entirely.

“Loki,” Tony said again. “_Lokes._ If you help us, and we close it while you’re on this side—”

“Then I will be stuck here with you,” Loki said, his voice almost nonchalant. “I believe there are more urgent matters to be worrying about.”

Tony let out a long, shaky breath. They’d talked about this already, back when they had made their hurried plan. Back when they had said goodbye for what Tony thought was forever– but Loki, it would seem, had changed his mind.

“I thought you were gone,” he whispered. “I thought… Why are you here?”

Loki let out a sigh, and his hands stilled from what he was working on as he turned to meet Tony’s gaze.

“I knew that you weren’t going to get this completed,” Loki said. “Not because I think it is beyond your ability, but, you simply did not have enough time. There was no way that I was going to be able to make Odin delay. And the more I thought about leaving to help you, the more I realised… that whether you would be able to solve this yourself did not matter, because I _need_ to be on this side of the Bifröst when it closes forever.”

Loki’s words were sharp, his eyes burning with the promise of a storm should Tony try to argue. And Tony knew that Loki could be stubborn, and—

He knew that Loki loved him, he _knew_ that. The words had been whispered between them on more than a few occasions, the sentiment carried with sweet touches and harsh realities, in the determination with which they forged time together despite the difficulties they faced. Tony loved Loki more than anything, and he _knew_ that Loki felt the same way. It was one of the reasons why it had hurt so very much to let him go.

But this… this went beyond a simple kind of love. Choosing Tony over his home, over his family, over almost everything that he had ever known showed a deeper devotion which—

Which _should_ have been a thing to celebrate. But while Tony’s every heartbeat felt like it pulsed for _Loki_, something thick and heavy lodged in his throat—

Because as much as their goodbye had torn him apart, and as much as Tony wished he could cling to Loki and never let him go again—

He just wanted Loki to be happy. And he needed Loki to be sure that he _would be_.

So, even though it hurt—

“Your family,” Tony whispered. “Your father, your brother… your _mom—”_

“Are all very important to me,” Loki cut in, “But they’re not the only family I have, not anymore. And I…” he swallowed thickly. “Given the choice between living a life with you in it or never being able to see you again? Anthony… for me, that is no choice at all.”

The sound that pulled from Tony’s throat was something of a whine, short and cutting and… and not pained in the slightest.

“I love you,” he whispered, his voice rough and hoarse. “And, I’m _still_ sorry that this happened, okay? Even if this is where you want to be. And I’ll find a way to make it right.”

“This is not your fault, elskan mín,” Loki replied softly, raising his hand to Tony’s cheek. Tony leaned into his touch, it having been a too long and too painful a time since they’d last had a quiet moment. “This is Odin, no one else. And I want nothing more than to be with you.”

Loki smiled, then, and he stroked his thumb once across the line of Tony’s goatee. He really did look content in his decision, but… Tony still meant to keep to his offer. So long as it wouldn’t put the rest of Earth at risk, he would find a way so that Loki could see his family again. So that Loki could be _happy._

Giving up his world for Tony might be romantic, but. Tony would do anything to make sure that this decision did not become one that Loki would regret.

And, that meant that they needed to work out how to use the goddamn Tesseract.

“We should get back to work,” Tony sighed. “We’re never going to tear down the Bifröst if we’re busy being starry-eyed.”

Selvig muttered something under his breath that sounded like a _hear, hear_, but Tony didn’t even bother glancing over.

“Yes,” Loki agreed, his expression tender. “But there is one thing that I believe I need to do, first.”

And when Loki met Tony’s lips with a gentle smile?

Well, their kiss tasted a little like hope.


End file.
